ABOUT THIS ALBUM
Album Notes
On Roots of Armenian Jazz, Franz's brilliant debut CD blends his rich baritone voice with Armenian folk songs. The tunes are associated with such greats as Datevik, Kurt Elling, Levon Malkhasyan, Tigran Hamasyan. His most ambitious undertaking to date, it features his working quartet of bassist Grigory Voskoboynik, drummer Garik Bagdasaryan, saxophonist Andrey Blinchevsky and longtime creative partner, pianist-arranger Valeriya Gertzenova. Among those who also took an important role in the release were creative producer Ariadna Kariagina, soundman Vicror Dinov, studio manager Maxim Torozyan, designer Oleg Barinov, production manager Oleg Grabko. «I feel that we did a recording I am very proud of about. Of course, there are always things I’d like to have played better. One way or another it’s a kind of a unique folk-jazz record with very important information inside.»

Subcollection: TromboneAs contemporary jazz music, the modern jazz sound expected by the public does not coincide with the sound associated with the trombone, the greatest challenge for us was to find a way in which the trombone could take a leading part, and accomplish this not with technical bravuras, but with the diversity of its timbre - its warm and cold tones. The 'instrument' is given - but the music must go beyond it.
László Gőz

The Platypus cleared his voice and he said: Thank you, everyone, for coming here today. Here’s what I have to say: I’ve got a bit of land animal in me because of my fur, and I love running across the land. But I also have got a bit of bird in me, because of my bill, and I lay eggs. And I also have got a bit of water creature in me, because my home is right next door to the water’s edge, and I love swimming and exploring that underwater world.

The new album of Baraka called «SAMO Remix» is the studio mixing of the original traditional material of SAMO, a group from the Pamir Mountains. It was recorded by Baraka leader Dmitry Yevsikov on his trip to Tajikistan in 2015. There, he heard SAMO playing a home concert for him and Baraka, was given a CD with SAMO music, and made a promise to reply to it. SAMO Remix is the reply, the tribute that is Europeanized but aims to preserve the original spirit of the Pamir. Baraka has been interpreting Pamir tradition for years. Musicians had recorded several albums that bring together Central Asian traditional music and modern European sound. SAMO Remix employs lounge and ethno jazz to make a fusion of improvisation and electronics with the original Pamir vocals and rap incrustations.